The DA planned to “resurrect” the eThekwini metro police should the party take control of the municipality in the upcoming local elections, it said on Sunday.
“We will ensure they [officers] are properly equipped and trained. We will establish specialised units to combat crime, copper theft, drinking and driving as well as speeding,” eThekwini mayoral candidate Ronnie Veeran said in a speech prepared for delivery.
“In the DA’s first financial year, the metro police [in Cape Town] received a bigger capital budget,” he said.
“A DA government in eThekwini will immediately set about creating a specialised metro police unit to tackle this problem head-on. This unit will consist of highly trained and equipped officers and an efficient intelligence gathering arm.”
Veeran said the unit would partner with the police, private security companies and community policing forums to identify where drugs were being sold, how they enter the city and the drug lords responsible for selling them.
The DA said it also planned to root out copper cable theft, by introducing a “Copperheads” unit to combat cable theft as well as seeking out scrap dealers and individuals who were buying stolen cables.
Veeran said the DA had turned around the metro police in Cape Town when it took control of the city in 2006.
Emergency funds were utilised to fill critical posts within 100 days of taking office. Extra money was allocated for police equipment, he said.
“The DA-led city of Cape Town has demonstrated that the metro police, which are funded by the ratepayers of the metro, can be an enormously effective force in combating the sale and distribution of drugs.” – Sapa